B.C. fraudster who lured investors with promise to help homeless fined by securities regulator

Canadian cash is shown. (Shutterstock.com)

A Vancouver woman whose company duped investors by promising big returns on real-estate deals that would house the homeless has been ordered to pay nearly $626,000 after the British Columbia Securities Commission deemed the operation a Ponzi scheme.

The commission found Cherie Evangeline White committed fraud, obstructed justice and illegally sold more than $1 million worth of shares in her company, KingdomInvestments2015 Inc., formerly known as KingdomRealty Inc. and Kingdom Investments Inc.

The company, which White controlled as the owner and chief executive, promised investors financial returns of between 10 and 30 per cent by "fixing and flipping" residential properties at a profit.

Many investors were lured by the prospect of helping to house people facing barriers such as addictions and homelessness, while others were attracted by White's profession of "shared spiritual values" and her "calculated use of faith-related" logos and language, according to the commission.

Instead, White and her company used investor funds to repay earlier investors, which the commission's tribunal determined was "consistent with a Ponzi scheme."

Other investor funds went to repaying a personal loan from White's stepfather, the panel found.

White created a false sense of urgency among investors, "going so far as to accompany one investor to their financial institution in order to facilitate payment … despite attempts by staff at such institution to warn such investor," the three-member panel wrote in its decision on Friday.

All told, White's investors incurred $776,000 in losses as a result of the fraud and the illegal distribution of more than $1.18 million in shares in her company.

She also obstructed justice when she failed to provide documents and information demanded by securities commission staff during a compelled interview, the tribunal ruled.

White and her company "did not co-operate fully in the enforcement process, have shown little to no remorse for their actions or the damages caused by them, and have failed to demonstrate any understanding of their misconduct or its impact," according to the ruling.

In addition to the $625,771 in penalties and reimbursements the commission ordered White to pay, she was also permanently banned from participating in B.C.'s investment market, except as an investor.

Kingdom was likewise permanently prohibited from trading its shares or engaging in any promotional activity.